Book Review

Instilling children with appreciation for nature is the first step to creating future activists and advocates — and what better way than through the power of a good story

Gifting a young child an appreciation for nature is a key part of a healthy start — and what better way than through a good storybook?

The wonder of nature is best discovered young. Alongside splashing in puddles and catching bugs outside, that wonder can be complemented with a book. Many of us remember the impact of “the very last Truffula tree of them all” getting cut down in Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax, or the near-extinction of the Wumps moving us to tears in Bill Peet’s The Wump World. Instilling children with appreciation for nature is the first step to creating future activists and advocates — and what better way than through the power of a good story.

These days books with an ecological bent are easy to find. Schools tend to gravitate toward fact-filled non-fiction, like the B.c.-based Orca Footprints series. Picture books like 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World by Melanie Walsh and The Earth Book by Todd Parr introduce children to the environment one step at a time. And National Geographic’s many infographic-filled offerings are big hits with kids and teachers alike. Sometimes, though, it’s nice to return to storytelling to get kids interested—just as The Lorax has been doing for generations.

If you want to connect a child to nature through a story this holiday season, these excellent titles offer something for readers of all ages.